Drunken Pumpkin Bread #SundaySupper

Are there no brakes on this thing? Seriously, it’s October already? Here we are, racing full speed ahead into the holidays. <sigh> Let’s pause for a moment to enjoy the splendor of fall, raking up crackly red and orange leaves, that crisp bite in the air, crocheted scarves, cozy knit sweaters, and a cup of hot cider.

When it comes to holiday baking, fall is a good time to sneak in a little prep work. Take, for example, pumpkins, which are plentiful right now… no time like the present to start stocking up on homemade puree, you know, so you can throw together a few loaves of this super moist and delicious Drunken Pumpkin Bread at a moment’s notice. This week #SundaySupper pays homage to the fall with its All Things Orange event, so enjoy all the linky goodness below and the array of fall-inspired dishes that it brings–the Drunken Pumpkin Bread is my contribution to this party.

Around here, the coastal town of Half Moon Bay is the pumpkin capital, and there was a time when I would patiently wait until November 1, then head down the coast to the pumpkin patches and snatch up pumpkins for dirt cheap or even free. This was long before a bounty of sugar pie pumpkins found their way to local markets, so we were cooking with carving pumpkins. I know. Nowadays, we know better. Don’t get me wrong–those big pumpkins are quite edible, but let’s face it, sugar pies are much more tasty. Save the big ones for carving.

In any event, start with fresh pumpkin puree for this recipe–you won’t regret it (and you won’t go back to canned either). One sugar pie pumpkin yields about 2 cups puree, perfect for this recipe! Also, don’t let those seeds go to waste–when roasted they make a super healthy snack, just follow these instructions here.

This particular pumpkin bread is one of my all time favorite recipes–simple to prepare, impressive results. For the record, this bread didn’t start out tipsy–that was my doing. It all started back in the 80s, when a door-to-door salesman (yep, you read that right) appeared one day at my office. He was peddling this cookbook–the The Culinary Arts Encyclopedia of Cooking–a 794 page tome containing more than 4,000 recipes and devoted to all things cooking. At the bargain price of $20, I bought one for me and one for my BFF.

With thousands of recipes from which to choose, it was the Pleasin’ Pumpkin Bread that caught my eye first. While I’ve tweaked the recipe more to my liking, even the original, unaltered recipe was still the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever tasted. Of course, my version is even better–incorporating fresh pumpkin puree, spiced rum, and golden raisins. It’s all good.

Let’s begin.

Start by organizing the ingredients, as the recipe comes together fast.

Baking is a science, and I’m no scientist. Hence, you may find my mixing method somewhat, shall we say, unorthodox. But, hey, I’m lazy, and this works for me. I like to start with the wet ingredients in the mixer bowl and give them a good mixin’. Then I add in the sugars, spices, salt and baking soda, and give that a good whirl.

Now all that’s left is the flour and the raisins. I add the flour 1 cup at a time, giving a good spin after each addition.

Before adding the raisins, remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir them in by hand.

Then divide the batter into two greased 9-inch loaf pans, and pop ’em in a 350 oven. Meanwhile, go lick the beater and the bowl–you know you want to!

About an hour later, you’ll have a home that smells cinnamony good and two loaves that will test your patience when it comes to cooling. Enjoy!

You had me at Pumpkin and then you added Rum and I am totally sold. This looks so good and reminds me I need to pick up some rum so I can make this.
Thanks for a great recipe!Nicole @ The Daily Dish recently posted..Pumpkin Donut Puffs #SundaySupper

If you do find the break let me know. I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone by. I think stopping for a moment over a cup of tea with your bread sounds like the perfect escapeLaura Hunter recently posted..Chicken and Sweet Potato Fritters #SundaySupper

I almost did rename this rum-raisin pumpkin bread, just because it’s more descriptive, but I went with the funny name instead (as a side note, the “drunken” thing is a family thing–we often say that about foods cooked with booze, most notably the family recipe for drunken chicken cooked in white wine)

This is just gorgeous. I love pumpkin bread and love your addition of rum – I’m totally making this over the next few days. We’re finally getting some nice fall weather here in the Bay Area, aren’t we?!The Wimpy Vegetarian recently posted..#SundaySupper: Cider-Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

This looks amazing! I have fallen in love with your pumpkin bread when you posted your teaser picture. You are right, your version is much greater that the recipe book. Love this recipe and thanks for sharing with us!Faye Leong recently posted..Sweet Potatoes Mini Balls for #SundaySupper

Go Giants!!!! 😀
I haven’t made anything pumpkin this year yet. But I got pumpkin flavored coffee today at Trader Joe’s… trying to make it a little more seasonal around in my house. Your pumpkin bread (rum? nice!) looks and sounds wonderful~~~~!

Oh my! The pumpkin coffee is back?! Last year at the office we were stock-piling it in a panic as we realized it was only available a few short weeks! So excited about our Giants! Will you I see you at the FoodBuzz conference?

Half moon Bay sounds like a town out of a book or movie! Your stenciling and carving work looks good to me. Pumpkin is so hard to carve. In awe of professional pumkin carvers. Anyway I digress. Love this bread. The color, the flavors and the texture of the raisins. oh and more rum please. hahaSarah recently posted..Pumpkin Ravioli #SundaySupper

You would LOVE Half Moon Bay, Sarah! It’s such a great little coastal town. They just had the big pumpkin weigh-off–I think the winner came in over 1700 lbs. Thanks re the pumpkin carving–it wasn’t too bad until I realized the stencil didn’t work right w/o using toothpicks to hold some parts in place!